Is it wrong for many religions to treat suicicide as an unforgivable sin?

Question

how can it be so wrong to end one's own suffering.

Answer 1

Yes, because suicide is a cry for help. I don't know anybody who really wants to end their own lives, they just feel that they've got no way forward. Truly religious people wouldn't judge those who feel low or afraid to continue with their own lives, they would offer help as religion is about forgiveness and unconditional love, my version of it is anyway.

Answer 2

Probably only God knows the content of a persons heart.  Dogma is the dangerous part.

Answer 3

i dont know if its wrong, but each to their own belief, did you know that years ago the church of england decided to bury suicide victims in a part of the churchyard that got the least sunlight, as a punishment for their doings!!!

Answer 4

As survival at any cost is our number one instinct..a person willing to take their own life is in unbearable emotional pain and not in their right mind..we are supposed to have faith that God gives us no more than we can bare..still it is not our job to treat any sin as unforgiveable..it's His..our job is to give emotional and spiritual support..only God knows their heart.

Answer 5

if you've done it[and i've tried it] why would you care your dead so no one's goint to lecture you about it  

Answer 6

The way you attain forgiveness for sins is to ask God. If you kill yourself you go straight to judgment and there is no time to ask for forgiveness.

If you ask in advance for forgiveness then you know its wrong and shouldn't do it.

That's why it is unforgivable

Answer 7

What is wrong is to suffer without help. We do not believe that suicide sends one to h**l automatically. I believe God is more merciful and just than that. How can a suffering soul really know what they are doing is wrong? Don't get me wrong I am not a fan of suicide, these people need our help and our compassion. They need help.

Answer 8

Pastor A:

Can you tell me where it says if a person was a genuine Christian before they took their life, then they are in Heaven?

Looking at it from the physical side of spirituality- the devil is always trying to get in our minds, getting us to do unGodly things, trying to turn us away... depressing us and bringing us to feel hopeless..Ultimately wanting us to break/end our lives. Why? so he gets our soul.  People dont kill their selves when they are happy and living for God. I dont think someone who kills themselves would be concidered a genuine Christian.



If it were that easy to get to Heaven, I think alot more people would be offing them selves....

**

Since we know for sure how exactly the Lord will judge in the end- maybe there will be exceptions... Like the girl who said her friend was really sweet and nice but killed himself due to a mental disability, I would venture to guess those kind of people arent accountable.

But overall, I believe it is wrong. Instinct even tells you its wrong..

Answer 9

No.  Suicide is the ultimate despairing act.  All life is precious, and it is not up to us to end it prematurely.

Answer 10

Yes its wrong.

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

God knows why people take their own lives and He loves them even when some members of organized religion don't.

If a person was a genuine Christian before they took their own life, they are in heaven.

If a person wasn't a Christian, well then we who have read the Bible know what happens then.

Sad but true.

Answer 11

okay number one: commiting/attempting suicide is the most cowardly and selfish thing to do. life does not belong to you so who the heck are you to end it.

number 2: sin is forgiven by the lord no matter how bad, if you just ask for it.no sin is unforgiveable by god

so 2 answer ur question it is wrong to treat suicide as unforgivable, but its not wrong at all to treat it as a sin

Answer 12

"Thou shalt not kill." [the Hebrew word means 'to murder', so, it should read 'Thou shalt not do murder']. Ex 20:13. "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not know sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except that law had said, Thou shalt to covet." Rom 7:7. "What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid." Rom 9:14.

If you kill yourself, you break the law, and are condemned under it. If you ask forgiveness for breaking the law Before you break it, you are trying to include God in your sin, and you are still condemned.

And because you can not ask for forgiveness After you murder yourself, you have committed the unforgivable sin, and you are still condemned.

You can get through your suffering. Ask God for help, He will not stop the suffering, but He will strengthen you to endure it, and thereby strengthen your faith and love for Him.

Answer 13

IT's not wrong . In Islam whoever commits suicide his destiny his h**l.

Answer 14

If religion says its a sin, it is so to prevent people from commiting suicide. Many people who want to commit suicdie do not do so because their religion says its a sin. so the religion is saving them from commiting suicide.

About ending one's own suffering. well, that a tricky question.

Some people commit suicide because they lost money in the shares, their bf/gf reject them etc etc. these sufferings are not big enough to commit suicide, but some do. Would you say 'how can it be so wrong to end one's own suffering.'?

Also the person might be in a state of mind which make him suicidal, but in a normal state of mind he might not have thought about it. When he stabilises he will be thankful that he did not commit suicide.

so what i am saying 'how can it be so wrong to end one's own suffering' is a difficult question. what may seem like a suffering might only be an illuson and there may be ways to reduce the suffering other than killing onself.

Answer 15

I think so.

WHO is the Judge?

Who does everyone have to stand before, by themselves at the end of time?

God knows and understands not only this cruel world we live in, but each and every persons heart, and every single thing about them.

He also Loves everyone, and is a compassionate, understanding God.

He also walked this earth so He does relate in every way to us.

Answer 16

When the pain of life becomes so hard that they just can't take it anymore due to either illness or heart break or for what ever reason I have never thought suicide was a sin. It's often selfish but in the case of serious illness it can be an unselfish act to save the family from medical bills and the duties of caring for the sick family member. If committing suicide is a sin for having incurable and painful cancer than pulling the plug on a coma patient is murder.

I have know three different people commit suicide due to heart break and its a very selfish act due to the trauma on the family left behind. The pain of the loss of a relationship and the feeling of not being loved is hard to accept and sometimes impossible to live with. If there were a god he is very unsympathetic for making someone who is already live in h**l on earth to continue to live in h**l.

I think people that commit suicide figured that if there were a h**l it can't be any worse than what they were already living with.  

So therefore not a sin.  

Answer 17

It's not up to anyone to judge what we want to do with ourselves. Life is ours,we can treat ourselves in whatever way we want.

Whether this is right or wrong,it's arbitrary.

Answer 18

Yes it is wrong, it's an attitude which shows no mercy. People don't just throw their lives away on a whim, they are desperately depressed, which is an illness, weather it's brought on by circumstances or by chemical imbalance, if someone commits suicide it's because they didn't get the help they needed to cope with their circumstances or depression, it is an illness that needs treatment and support, the same as any other life threatening illness, not a crime.

Answer 19

The sickening thing is to read the replies of the religious people who no doubt hold themselves in high moral regard but sit quite happily judging other, of whom they know nothing about. As if some STUPID and vague religious text gives them authority over what is right and what is wrong.

To allow a person to get the stage where they feel so alone and helpless that they feel they have no one to help and their only way to escape the pain is to commit suicide is an unflattering mirror to the attitudes of society, rather than the person.  Not helped at all by the judgemental and backward stance held by the holier than thou religious types. These judgemental religious people don't really have a clue about the real world is or what suffering and facing down harsh reality is, they have their nice little delusion that they are safe in heaven while they believe others burn for eternity and they are happy with that, it's quite sick really.

So yes religions are wrong to treat suicide as unforgivable sin as well as being wrong about many, many other things.

Answer 20

It is NOT an unforgivable sin...The unforgivable sins is not beleiving in God and Blasphemy. I think that suicide is a sin, but not unforgivable because the person is desperate enough to commit such an act. not knowing where he/she will go.Everything is forgivable with God

Answer 21

Depends upon the type of suicide.

If a person is mentally unbalanced and commits suicide, then no it's not a sin, because there are circumstances that have lead to that action that are not within the person's control. (clinical depression, etc.)

Suicide as a form of euthanasia is wrong though.  Yes, I KNOW that being critically ill, and fatally ill sucks big time.  Mind you I KNOW from experience.  I have COPD, and a couple of times there, I have almost died.  If I had given up, I wouldn't be typing this answer.  So the Kavorkian suicides, I don't think that the people are being anything but selfish about that.  Like I said, I KNOW what it's like to be in extreme pain, and critically ill.  To me it would be the height of selfishness to say let me kill myself, rather than living and being there for my kids and family.

Answer 22

The way people view suicide varies greatly. Some view it as a crime, others as a coward’s escape, and still others as an honorable way of apologizing for a blunder. Some even consider it a noble way to further a cause. Why such different viewpoints? Culture plays a major role. In fact, The Harvard Mental Health Letter suggests that culture may even “influence the likelihood of suicide.”

Sin is "to miss the mark of perfection".

None of us are perfect.

x x x

Answer 23

I feel it is wrong for many religions to treat suicide as an unforgivable sin.  A very dear friend of mine took his life.  He was the sweetest, most kind person I have ever known.  I never heard him say unkind things or be mean to anyone.  For some reason, he had terrible mental anguish.  So horrific, he felt the only way he could find peace was to end his life.  In my opinion, people such as this should be looked upon with sympathy and compassion.  Not ridiculed and condemned.

Answer 24

Jesus forgives. He knows the condition of our hearts

Answer 25

No, it is not wrong. Unless the suicide fails and the victim lives, suicide must be unforgivable.

Here's why.  Suicide is self-murder.  Ordinarily, murder could be forgiven, but self-murder is a special case because the murderer has gone beyond the forgiveness period.  You have to be alive to ask forgiveness.

We are called to suffer, meaning to endure pain for a higher good.  Though there are many moral ways to ease suffering, suicide is not one of them.

Here's another serious sin:  Counseling someone else to commit suicide.  Anyone who does so is an accessory to self-murder.

However, there is one possible loophole.  A serious sin must be committed with full knowledge and consent.  It is possible that someone is so deep in mental illness as to not know what he's doing in the act of suicide.

I know these are tough ideas, but the logic is inescapable. God gives life, a life made in his own image. It is not our prerogative to reject his gift.

Cheers,

Bruce